Drilling tool



4 Sheets-Sheet l Z 4 Q /Mm m DRILLING TOOL U \k w. .MmHm L? Filed Jan.12, 1951 INVENTOR MATVEY A. CAPE-L/usqHN/coFF 7% Malawi ATTORNEY Sept.13, 1932. r M. A. CAPELIUSCHNICOFF 5 I DRILLING TOOL Filed Jan. 12, 19314 Sheets-Sheet 2 MAn/Ey A. CAPEL/USCHN/COFF INVENTQR ATTORNEY DRILLINGTOOL 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Fil ed Jan. 12, 1931 +aun MATVEY A.CAPEL/USCI-IN/COFF INVENTOR 7 BY fl ATTORNEY Sept. 13, 1932.

M. A. CAPELIUSCHNIICOFF 1,877,225

DRILLING TOOL Filed Jan. 12, 1951 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 MA TVEY A.CAPEL/USCH/V/COFF INVENTOR BY 0/ WWW ATTORNEY Patented Sept.- 13, 1932S'I' TES DRILLING moon Application filed January 12,1931. Serial 1t'o.508,064.

My invention relates to well drilling tools and has a particularreference to tools or bits employing rotary cutters and especially.adapted for a rotary drilling.

Rotary cutters such as disc cutters, rock cutters, etc., have provenvery successful for drilling through more or less hard formations. Theiraction, however, depends on direct pressure from their drilling-pipe asthe rotation is caused by frictional contact with the well bore bottomas they are rolled around by the rotating pipe. In the usualconstruction, such discs are mounted on short shafts (horizontal orinclined) and rotate freely on these shafts, and are not mechanicallyconnected with the power transmitting shaft (or pipe). The forcerequired for drilling action is produced by direct pressure at thepoints of contact of the discs with the earth formations in the well.The result'of such pressure isthat when the tool meets inclined hardstrata it has a tendency to deviate from the straight verticaldirection, gradually following the direction of inclination of the rockformations. This causes crooked holes (wells) peculiar to rotarydrilling, the total deviation being often quite large for deep wells,and the bending of the drill pipe often causing excessive friction. Theexcessive pressure also tends to cause a rapid wear of the pivots orshafts supporting the rotating discs.

In order to eliminate these difliculties I provide a tool in which thecutting discs receive their rotating torque from the main driving(rotating) shaft or pipe, being con-.

nected with same through a suitable gearing,

fully enclosed and running in oil, with bearv rotating motor of a lowpower and which can be placed at the bottom of a well near the drillingbit.

Any suitable motor can be used for this a purpose, such as an electric,hydraulic, or a I compressed air motor, etc., but my tool is especiallyadapated to be used with my hydraulic rotary motors described in my U.S. Patents Nos. 1,681,094: and 1,785,727. These patents describe aconstruction with stationary pipes and a motor at the bottom end of thepipes directly operating a drilling cutter through a gearedtransmission. My drilling tool forming a subject matter of thisapplication can be attached to the stationary portion of the motorhousing, and the rotating portion connected with the operating spindle.The gearing interposed between the stationary and rotating portions willcause the positive rotation of the cutting discs by the motor while themain shaft or stem of the tool is ro-.

tated directly by this motor.

An additional advantage of my arrangement is also that it permits thebearings and the journaled portions of shafts to be fully enclosed so asto retain their lubricants and to protect them from dirt, water, etc.

My invention is more fully described in the accompanying specificationand drawings in which 2- Fig. l is a sectional elevation of my tool,Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is asectional elevation 'of a modified construction, Fig. 4: is a sectionalview taken on the line H of Fig. 3 and Fig. 5 is a sectional elevationof my tool assembled with my hydraulic motor described in my abovespecified patents.

My tools consists of a tubular housing 1 screwed on one end of aconnecting piece orreducer 2 the other and larger end of which isscrewed on the end of a stationary pipe 3 representing an outer shell ofmy rotary motor described in the above patents. The

reducer 2* has a packing 4 tightened with a gland nut 5 against ashoulder 6' and form ing a bearing for a tubular stem 7 the upper end ofwhich is attached to the drilling spindie 7 by a nut 9.

The spindle 7 extends from a planetary transmission 10 connected at theother end 1y supported in the sleeve 18 by means ofv packing rings 20and a gland nut 21. The bushin 19 is permanently screwed into an outershell 22 the upper end of which is rotatively supported on the housing 1with packing rings 23 between them clamped by a nut 24.

A ring 25 is screwed into the lower end of the housing 1, with ashoulder 26 supporting the packing 23, and with a bevel gear 27 at itslower edge. The housing 1 supports a roller bearing 28 the inner race ofwhich is mounted on an inner shell 29 pressed on the shank 7 with a key30. The lower end of the inner shell 29 has apertures 31 in which roundnuts 32 are 1' ournaled screwed on the ends of shafts '33. These shaftssupport bevel pinions or satellites 34 in mesh with the gears 15 and 27The middle portion of each shaft is journaled in bosses 35 on the sidesof the outer shell 22 with packing rings 36 and gland nuts 37. Thrustball bearings 38 are interposed between the pinions 34 and shoulders 39in the bosses 35. The outer ends of the shafts are provided with heads40 fitting in corresponding recesses of disc cutters 41 which arepressed and keyed on the shafts 33, with keys 42. The shafts are placedat an angle with the horizontal line in order to bring the lower edgesof the cutters close together. This arrangement permits the cutters toremove practically all the material at the bottom of a hole (well).

All of the bearings and frictional surfaces of my device, as can be seenfrom the drawings, are fully enclosed with packing glands and can retaintheir lubrication, practically, indefinitely, being also fully protectedfrom water, dirt, etc.

The operation of my device is as follows.

The hydraulic motor in the shell 3, Fig. 5 is assembled with my drillingtool and is mounted on the end of the drilling pipe 12 to be loweredinto the well. The ordinary mud solution is then pumped through thedrilling pipe.' It passes through the rotor 11 of the hydraulic motorthereby causing same to rotate, and flows in ,the channels around thetransmission housing into the hollow stem 7, emerging at the bottom tospread around the cutting edges of the disc cutters The motor turns thespindle 7 through the planetary transmission 10. The gear 15 rotateswith the spindle, rolling the satellites 34 over the stationary gear 27.As a result, the shafts 33 with the cutting discs 41 will turn on theiraxes, the periphery of the disc acting like a rotary knife in cuttingthe earth formations through which the hole is being drilled. At thesame time the outer shell 22 with the shafts 33 and discs 41 will slowlyrotate around the axis of the stem 7 thereby distributing the cuttingoperation uniformly throughout the exposed area of the earth foraxis ofthe tool or, which is the same thing,

around the axis of the well.

The construction of my device is such that all the rubbing or frictionalsurfaces, bearings, gears etc., are totally enclosed and sealed withpacking glands, so that they retain their lubrication and are fullyprotected from the mud solution, Water and dirt in the well,

A modified arrangement is shown in Fi s. 3 and 4. Here the outer shell43 is rigicfiy mounted'on'the stem 7 through an intermediate bushing 44with a key 45. The inner ends of the shafts 33 are journaled in an innershell46. The shafts with the cutters 47 are directly rotated by the stem7 with their outer and inner shells 43 and 46. The rotation of thecutters on'their axes is accomplished by the arrangement of a stationarygear 27 in mesh with the pinions 34 which roll on this gear whilerotating around the axis of the tool.

The cutters 47 may have teeth on their peripheries in order tofacilitate cutting through hard formations. These cutters may be, ofcourse, of any ordinary shape and design, suitable for differentpractical conditions.

The positive rotation of the cutting discs enables my tool to exertcutting action quite independently of the axial pressure on the tool, sothat a comparatively low powered motor will successfully operate thisdevice. Different gearing arrangement may be used for different drillingconditions, so as to increase either their rotative speed around theiraxis or their speed of rotation around the axis of the central stem.

My tool is especially suitable for use with my hydraulic drilling deviceas described in my above mentioned patents. The stationary housing orshell is attached to the stationary portion of the drilling device'whichn turn is attached to the stationary drill pipe. These parts are definedas station- .ary in a sense that they do not rotate, although, ofcourse, they are gradually lowered nto the well as'the drillingoperation progresses, and they are differentiated thereby from therotating portions of the drilling outfit which are directly connectedwith the operating stem of my tool.

i I claim as my invention:

1. In a Well drilling tool, the combination with a central stem adaptedto be rotated by a motor, of a stationary shell rotativelysupportingvsaid stem, an outer shell rotatively mounted on saidstationary shell, said outer shell being adapted to be rotated by saidstem, disc cutters rotatively mounted on said outer shell, and meansactuated by said stem to rotate said disc cutters about their axes.

2. In a well drilling tool, the combination with a central stem adaptedto be rotated by a motor, of a stationary shell rotatively supportingsaid stem, an outer shell rotatively supported on said stationary shell,said outer shell being adapted to be rotated by said stem, a gear onsaid stationary shell, shafts rotatively supported in saidouter shell,cutting discs onsaid shafts, and pinions on said shafts in mesh withsaid gear, said pinions being adapted to cause the rotation of saidshafts with said cutters about their axes when said outer shell isrotated by said stem.

3. -In a well drilling tool, the combination with a stem adapted to berotated by a motor, of a stationary shell rotatively supporting saidstem, an outer shell rotatively supported on said stationary shell, agear on said stationary shell, shafts rotatively supported in said outershell, cutting discs on said shafts, pinions on said shafts in mesh withsaid gear, and a second gear fixedly mounted on said stem and in meshwith said pinions, said second gear being adapted to rotate said pinionsand to roll themover said stationary gear. y

4. In a well drilling tool, the combination with a central stem adaptedto be rotated by a motor, of a stationary shell rotatively mounting saidstem, an outer shell rotatively supported on said stationary shell andattached to said stem, a gear on said stationv ary shell, shaftsrotatively supported in said outer shell in a radial direction from saidstem, cutting discs on said shafts, pinions on said shafts in mesh withsaid gear, and an inner shell rotatively supporting-the innr ends ofsaid shafts and rotatively supported in said stationary shell. f

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

MATVEY CAPELIUSCHNICOFF.

